


Who Talks First?

by BurnedStars777



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Cuddling & Snuggling, Eavesdropping, F/M, First Time, Flowers, Fluff and Smut, Kylo Ren and Rey Are Not Related, Redeemed Ben Solo, Secret Relationship, Virgin Ben Solo, Virgin Rey (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 07:14:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20060101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurnedStars777/pseuds/BurnedStars777
Summary: Rey and Kylo Ren fall in love, and Rey’s friends slowly figure it out one by one.These are those moments.





	Who Talks First?

**Author's Note:**

> Always wanted to write a cute one-shot like this. I’m thinking about maybe writing a longer historical au at some point, but something a little different from the typical European arranged marriage plotline. I kind of like the idea of keeping Rey’s status as a “nobody” and falling in love naturally with Ben rather than a situation where they are forced together. Snoke will definitely be a key player as an Emperor though, that much is certain. He’s underutilized in all of my stories so I want to try something new. Still mulling it over! Let me know what you think!

**Poe**

Nothing gets past Poe Dameron. He prides himself on being one step ahead of everyone else, which when you think about it, is kind of essential in his line of work. He wouldn’t have lasted very long fighting the First Order, wouldn’t have survived their inevitable defeat if he _hadn’t _been one step ahead. 

So that is why one day, when Rey mutters to no one in particular that she is going to rewire a damaged X-wing in the docking port, Poe is immediately suspicious.

It has been three years since he met Rey on Crait, and a year and a half since they brought down an empire together. In that time Poe has discovered many things about the scrappy scavenger.

He’s realized despite her seemingly sunny disposition, she has a sadness that most people wouldn’t recognize. He’s noticed her instincts are one of a kind, how she still tenses from friendly touches, how she always opts out of having blue milk with her meals.

He’s also realized that Rey is a terrible liar.

“You going alone?” Poe asks her, as she begins to exit the dining hall.

He notices the light bob of her throat as she swallows. “Not exactly.”

Poe raises an eyebrow. A highly suspicious answer. She must realize this too, for she turns abruptly and disappears from sight.

Poe leans over and elbows Finn, whose cheeks are stuffed with portions. “What do you think’s up with her?”

Finn swallows his food. “I think she said she’s going to rewire an X-wing.”

Poe gives an affectionate roll of his eyes, shooting his friend a small grin as he sucks one of his brown fingers clean. For all Finn’s strengths, emotional intelligence perhaps isn’t his most prominent.

The pilot stands up, brushing off his pants. “Tell Leia I’m going to be a little late.”

“Oh, she’ll _love _that,” Connix remarks, and Poe sends her a wink before following Rey out of the hall.

But _hell, _is that girl a quick walker. He can’t even catch the tail end of her tunic rounding a corner. He’s about to pick up the pace when he hears a familiar beep behind him.

“BB-8, I was wondering where you’ve been off to.”

The BB-unit rolls forward and gives a slight spin.

Poe points to himself. “Me? Oh, I’m just off to do a little recon.” He begins walking again, and the droid trails him, beeping curiously. Poe waves his hand. “I know the war’s over, but that doesn’t mean I can’t find out what-”

A side door flies up to Poe’s right, and the pilot pauses, his mouth curving down at one end. The occupant of the room steps out, his beige uniform pristine and his eyes dark and automatically wary. It doesn’t escape Poe how the man’s hands curl and uncurl, as if the pilot had just insulted his mother.

Well, that would be an issue for a number of reasons.

“Solo,” Poe greets casually, but there is an intrinsic stiffness to his voice, as there always is when he confronts the former Supreme Leader. His tongue touches the roof of his mouth as he tests out the name. Poe has referred to him as Ren for over a year, just for the principle of it-he’s still having trouble accepting the life sentence handed to Snoke’s old crony. Even so, he’s been trying something new lately. It’s called getting the kark over it.

It’s a work in progress, and the name is a start. 

Kylo Ren, Ben Solo-kriff, does it even matter what you call him these days-grunts in his general direction and brushes past the pilot.

“Always a pleasure,” Poe calls after his retreating form, but if he’s heard he doesn’t acknowledge it.

Poe puts enough distance between him and Solo, for he’s not particularly keen to run into him again. BB-8 rolls beside him as he walks down the hallway. Eventually they both pause as they round the corner to the docking port.

Almost immediately, Poe retreats behind the corner, crouching down to tug BB-8 back with him. The droid gives an indignant beep, but Poe presses his index finger to his lips, signaling quiet. His hand grips the edge of the metal wall as he peers around to the other side again.

Rey, true to her word, crouches with her back to him, her hands already coated in engine grease. She works quietly, turning the engine on and off and back on again. She turns her head to the side.

And there he is. The man of the hour.

Solo stands off to one side, perhaps too full of himself to crouch down to her level. Poe frowns as Rey’s lips move, clearly asking him for something, but he can’t make it out over the choked whir of the engine.

His question is soon answered, however, as Solo extends a hand and levitates a wrench into her grasp. Poe stifles a snort. Force users. Would it have killed him to walk the extra five feet?

Rey moves to sit down, her legs splayed out beside her. She wipes at her sweaty hairline and turns in profile. Now Solo is the one saying something. Rey grins.

Poe doesn’t know which is more disturbing-that Rey may very well have invited him there with her, or that _anyone _could find _anything _Solo says to be humorous.

She gestures to the ground beside her, and the dark-haired man sits. Poe raises an eyebrow in surprise, while BB-8 swivels his head. The pilot merely frowns, for once at a loss.

He shouldn’t be entirely surprised that Rey and Solo are on somewhat friendly terms. She vouched for him when he had defected, hell, she didn’t even seem that surprised when he did. She offered her testimony when it came time for the trial, and while she clearly had carefully selected her words, Poe could gauge there was a little bit more to the story.

He watches as the two work absolutely silently on a panel, and he can only guess as to how this is possible. He’s rewired X-wings before, and he knows that when it’s a two-person job, heavy communication is required. Yet, as he watches them, they seem to do just that, without uttering a single word. Ren…excuse him, _Solo_hands her exactly what she needs when she needs it. He even makes some repairs himself, and Poe can hardly believe it when his pristine, bare hands come back filthy.

Then Rey cuts the engine after giving it a final test, and the room is plunged into quiet.

Solo mutters something to her, and with the deep timbre of his voice it sounds like, “Why did you do that?”

Rey says something Poe can’t hear and then follows it with, “I didn’t realize you knew so much about rewiring.”

Solo rubs the hair at the back of his neck and grunts. “Not as much as you.”

The instinctual bile that rises in Poe’s throat surprises him, and he quickly discovers it is because Kylo Ren has just attempted to flirt in front of him.

“There wasn’t much else to do on Jakku,” Rey replies, and although it barely shows on her face, Poe can tell she is pleased with the compliment.

Solo adjusts his legs and clears his throat. “You’re a natural.”

Stop. Please stop. This is actually causing Poe physical pain. Even so, it’s like a pod crash. He can’t possibly look away now.

“Did you used to work on these types with your father?” Rey asks so softly, that Poe has to strain to listen. It does not escape him that she chooses to say ‘your father’ over ‘Han.’

Solo responds even quieter, and this time Poe cannot hear him, nor can he hear Rey’s reply.

He does, however, notice when Solo’s hand hovers in the air, and for a moment Poe thinks he is about to summon another tool. Instead he rests his palm lightly on Rey’s shoulder. It is a simple touch, Poe observes, one that she could receive from him or Finn any day of the week.

But she does not flinch.

Poe doesn’t feel like sticking around for whatever happens next. He’s seen enough. In fact, he’s seen too much. He wonders if Finn knows. Probably not, and Poe certainly doesn’t want to be the one to tell him.

“You coming?” he calls to BB-8 softly, but the droid stays put. Apparently he has a stronger stomach than the pilot.

Poe shakes his head as he retreats down the hallway. Nothing gets past him. He keeps telling himself that, so he won’t have to admit that today he’s found the exception.

**Finn **

Finn works out a kink in his shoulder with a grimace. Rose had lectured him the other day about overdoing it in combat training, and he had foolishly ignored her.

“What do you have to train so hard for anyway?” she had asked. “Planning on jumping into another war already?”

She has a point, as usual.

To be honest, he isn’t sure why he’s trained everyday after the First Order’s defeat. Maybe it’s just become second nature to him. It provides him with a routine, a purpose, because after the war everyone’s lives had been thrown off track.

Ren’s most of all.

Finn knows he should try to be more accepting of his old commander. The man _did _play a part in taking down the Order after all. Then again, if it weren’t for him there might not have even _been _an Order in the first place.

If you ask him, Ren’s sentence is too light. He should have been banished, plopped onto a desolate planet on the outer rim and forgotten. Finn’s opinion on this may strike some as surprising, considering he was once a member of the First Order himself.

But there’s a difference.

He made the decision on his first deployment not to kill for them. Kylo Ren had many, _many _chances to put a stop to the suffering of others. So Finn has no sympathy for his former leader.

Because there is a difference between him and Ren. There is.

He has to believe that.

A few minutes later he comes to the training sector and enters through a pair of sliding metal doors. As he moves onto the second story overhang, he can already tell that the space below is occupied. He can hear the quiet grunts of multiple people, and the tell tale noise of wooden staffs clashing against each other.

Then there is a pause and some slight shuffling, and just as Finn crosses the threshold to peer down below, he witnesses Rey as she ignites her saber. In the next moment she ducks as Ren charges her with a saber resistant weapon, missing her by inches.

Finn grips the railing in alarm, and he opens his mouth to shout for help, when Rey stumbles and Ren pauses to allow her to regain her balance.

Oh. They’re just sparring. Right.

Finn knows he should probably feel guilty for assuming, but is it honestly that blamable given Ren’s past?

He should probably step away and give them their space, but curiosity and suspicion keeps him at bay. He has never seen the pair interact alone outside the occasional situation of peril. Now he has an opportunity to see what it is between the two that Rey has never thought to mention to anyone else. 

They spar for several more minutes, almost evenly matched hit for hit. In the end, however, it is not a fair fight when one has a lightsaber and the other does not. Not that it _should _be a fair fight. Ren’s saber was destroyed once he was sentenced, rightfully so.

Rey sheaths the blades of her saber as Ren drops his staff in a yield. He wipes the dark, sweaty strands from his forehead with the back of his hand as both catch their breath.

“You realize under different circumstances you wouldn’t win so easily,” Ren remarks.

Rey clips her weapon to her belt. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

Finn grins at the barb, despite himself.

“You’ve improved drastically since we first fought on Starkiller.”

“I hope so. That was ages ago.”

“It was,” Ren replies, walking over to the benches and drinking from a canteen. Rey follows him and does the same. He wipes his mouth. “A lot has changed since then.”

She nods, and then takes a swig of her own drink. “Yes. It has.”

Ren sets down the canteen and swallows again, and although Finn isn’t the best at picking up emotions, it almost seems like the dark-haired man is nervous. The realization is almost unnerving.

“For the better, I hope,” Ren says, staring at her.

Rey places her canteen on the bench and watches Ren. Finn crouches down from his place on the balcony in case either decides to pivot and discover him lurking.

“I don’t think I know what you mean.”

Ren raises a hand and moves it towards her, but whatever he is about to do he must decide against at the last moment, for it returns to his side. Finn raises an eyebrow. Was he going to touch her?

He snorts to himself. Good luck with that. Rey has never been the touchy-feely sort.

“Are you ashamed of me?” he questions, and then ducks his head.

Rey blinks in surprise. “Ben…”

“Answer the question.”

“No,” Rey replies, and there is resolve in her voice, the same resolve as when she had testified on his behalf.

Finn remembers it well. The trial had both surprised and disturbed him. When Rey took the stand she was like another person, someone who seemed to know so much more about the man in front of her than anyone in the galaxy. At the time, Finn had chalked it up to some Jedi Force thing, but now…he isn’t sure what to think.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you were,” Ren continues, and Finn’s mouth turns down. Is Ren trying to garner sympathy by throwing himself a pity party? Just when you thought he couldn’t get more angsty…

“Ben,” she repeats, and why does she say it like she knows the man behind the name? “I’m not ashamed of you.” She pauses, and the corner of her mouth tugs upwards. “Well, other than for your piss poor excuse for sparring I just witnessed.”

Ren scoffs, but suddenly he’s smirking in a way that is almost a smile, but just not quite. “Don’t be so arrogant. You know I’m at a disadvantage.”

“That’s debatable.”

He takes a step closer and adjusts his shoulders in a strained movement. It’s extremely uncomfortable to watch. “Hm. I suppose you did always manage to slip through my fingers.”

Finn’s face shifts from one of confusion to one of horror, and he has to find his pulse to make sure he isn’t in some drug-induced stupor. But no.

Kylo Ren has attempted to flirt. With Rey.

And it’s making him want to die.

Thankfully Rey either doesn’t bite, or is oblivious to his cringe worthy attempts at seduction, for she bends over and retrieves his staff. She hands it to Ren, and for a moment Finn thinks their hands brush, but that can’t be the case, and he certainly is going blind, and that’s what he is going to tell himself so he doesn’t leap over the balcony then and there.

He army crawls across the raised platform towards the door as they begin to spar again, for he’s seen all he’s needed to see and then some. As he steps to the safety of the hallway, he rests his head against the wall.

He can pretend he didn’t see anything notable. They were just sparring. _Just sparring. _It isn’t denial; it’s the truth.

As Finn walks away, however, he can’t resist the smug feeling that radiates from his chest to his fingertips.

Kylo Ren has no game. Fact confirmed.

**Rose**

It isn’t often Rose Tico gets to go off on excursions. She’s an engineer; so naturally, most of her work involves staying close to base in case the Republic needs a team to make repairs.

Today, however, she receives a call from Rey, who is on a small planet called Zaitehea.

“This is embarrassing,” Rey tells her through the com, “but I may have overlooked something in my repairs…”

Once she explains the situation, Rose sees that it’s actually no biggie. Rey had taken a small team out to gather natural resources in the outer rim, but had neglected to triple-check her work from the weeks before. If she had, she might have noticed that the manifolds of her craft had rusted on the bottom. She and her team are stranded until a new one is brought to them.

Rose can tell Rey is mortified, but really it is a minor detail. Rose thinks it’s extremely impressive in itself that Rey already knows so much about engineering without being formerly trained.

And besides, Rose loves any opportunity to help her friends.

She gets a pilot by the name Otto to take her to Zaitethea, and they are there within the hour. The landscape of the planet is covered in fresh water and rolling hills. The grounds are speckled with flowers and plant life that comes in colors Rose didn’t even know existed.

She finds two males and two females with crates and canteens of goods by their sides. The stranded ship stands a couple hundred feet behind them. Rose looks to the woman with dark skin and cropped hair.

“Hi, do you know where Rey is?” she asks, swinging her arms. “I’ll get to work on the ship as soon as I check in with her.”

“She’s over the hill,” the woman responds neutrally.

“She’s got her hands full,” one of the men adds, his tone snarky, and Rose isn’t quite sure what he means by that.

“Uh, thanks,” she says to the group, before she trudges over the hill.

She pauses when she gets to the top, for whatever she expects to find on the other side, it isn’t this.

Kylo Ren, um, _Ben Solo_, stands side by side with her friend in comfortable silence.

This is confusing to Rose for a multitude of reasons.

First of all, she hadn’t even realized Solo was allowed on this excursion. The Republic kept a tight leash on him after all, so his presence makes Rose wonder if Rey pulled a few strings to get him there. The question is…why?

Rose takes a seat on the hill, and then, after a moment of hesitance, crabwalks a little closer to the pair. She is Rey’s friend first and foremost, and although she knows the scavenger can take care of herself, she doesn’t trust Ren for an instant.

“I got you something,” she hears him say to Rey, effectively breaking the silence. Rose is grateful that the wind carries his voice, so she can properly eavesdrop.

Rey regards him with a raised eyebrow, and Ren holds out a crumpled yellow flower.

“It’s a daisy,” he tells Rey, his voice stiff. He raises his arm further. “It…reminded me of you.”

Rey stares at him blankly. “How?”

Clearly Ren is not prepared for this question, for Rose can see how stiff he becomes, even from this distance.

“Well, it’s bright and…and it’s nice…”

And just like that, all of Rose’s wariness evaporates into the air. She places a hand over her mouth.

Oh, the poor thing! He’s trying to flirt!

It’s a terrible thing to watch, but what’s even more peculiar is Rey does not seem to mind.

It is here that Rey says something Rose cannot hear, and she is tempted to dive into a bush just to get a better view.

She finds quickly that she does not need to, for at that moment Rey stands on her tiptoes and…

Rose lets out a small squeal before she remembers herself. This is _Kylo Ren_. This is not something to be excited about. It should be disturbing and confusing and unnatural and…

Oh, kark it. It’s utterly romantic.

Rose decides she really doesn’t need to check in with Rey, and instead makes her way back to the ship to install the new manifolds.

**Poe, Finn, Rose**

They all eye each other, arms crossed, shoulders stiff. BB-8 rotates his head, eyeing each of them.

“So,” Poe says, his eyes running over the others, “who talks first?”

The trio exchange looks, but neither Rose nor Finn seems ready to speak, so Poe steps up with a sigh.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but-”

“What’s going on with Rey and Kylo Ren?” Finn nearly explodes, causing BB-8 to squeal in surprise.

Poe points to Finn. “Right.”

“They seem to have gotten awfully close,” Rose supplies.

“But who’s to say they weren’t already like that?” Finn looks around anxiously. “I know it sounds insane, but I feel like there’s so much we don’t know.” He looks sick. “I swear if that…that _murderer _is making her-”

Poe holds his hands up. “Easy there, bud. We all know Rey’s the last person we need to worry about. She can handle herself just fine, especially when it comes to Ren.”

“I know that,” Finn argues, but he looks a little guilty.

BB-8 beeps, and all three heads swivel to the droid.

Now it’s Poe that seems uncomfortable. “Well…we don’t know for _sure _if what’s going on is…” he seems at a loss for words, something that’s been happening more and more as of late.

“Romantic?” Finn supplies with a grimace.

Poe crosses his arms, a small smile appearing on his face. “Sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud.”

“Yeah! Yeah it does,” Finn grins back, relieved.

It’s truly magical how far denial can go. BB-8 and Rose exchange a glance.

“I saw them kiss,” Rose finally pipes up, and then proceeds to watch Poe pale and Finn choke on his own spit.

“WHAT?!”

“Why didn’t you lead with that?”

Rose shrugs. “I just thought you guys knew already.”

Finn’s cheeks redden. “I can’t, I mean, that-that, that _creep-”_

Rose places a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “You probably don’t want to hear this right now…but I actually don’t think it’s that bad.”

Finn’s mouth bobs like a fish, while Poe- recovering from his initial shock-regards Rose with mild curiosity.

“Explain.”

Rose shrugs again. “I overheard them talking. It was…kind of sweet. He gave her a daisy. It’s this really pretty flower.” She reddens from the other two’s staring. “He looked terrified…but happy. I don’t know, it was pretty bad to watch, but in an endearing sort of way.”

Finn shudders. “I don’t need to relive Ren flirting again.”

“Agreed,” Poe adds, his mouth pulling down at the corners.

“It _was _awful,” Rose nods, “but I don’t know. I’ve never seen him like that with anyone before. He’s always angry or sulking, so this was just…unexpected.”

They all stand in thoughtful silence.

“Rey also kissed him first,” Rose concludes with the raise of her pointer finger.

Finn braces himself against a metal shelf. “Please. No more. I don’t want to picture it.”

“I definitely didn’t see this coming,” Poe says more to himself than anyone else.

“Is it really so bad?” Rose protests weakly. “I mean yeah, it’s _Kylo Ren_, but he did help us out in the end, didn’t he? And I don’t know…they seem to like each other.”

More silence. And then-

“So Rey was…was really happy?” Finn asks quietly. “It was her decision?”

“From what I could see, yup.”

Poe and Finn make eye contact.

“I guess there might have been some signs I chose to overlook,” Poe amends.

Finn scratches the back of his neck. “Yeah. Yeah me too.”

BB-8 beeps in agreement.

“And who knows?” Rose adds. “Maybe Rey will tell us what’s going on soon. Maybe she just needs time.”

Finn smiles softly at Rose, while Poe regards her with an impressed gaze.

“Look at you, coming to the rescue.”

Rose beams.

**Rey, Ben**

The first time, _she _kisses him.

Initially, it is supposed to be a kiss on the cheek, something a friend would do, like the hand squeezes Finn gives her, or the exaggerated pecks that Poe presses to her temple.

But he is taller than she remembers, and she loses her balance, so it lands on the corner of his mouth.

When she jerks away his eyes go wide, and his ears turn cherry red. It is the most undignified Kylo Ren has ever looked-disregarding the time she bisected his face in the snow-but somehow the way he is right now seems perfectly fitting for Ben Solo.

She gets off her tiptoes and ducks her head and pretends it isn’t a big deal.

By now the flower, the ‘daisy,’ is crumpled in her fist.

He clears his throat as she moves away, looking just as lost as she feels. “Would you like me to go?” he asks.

“You can do whatever you want,” she responds, her voice remarkably calm.

“Rey?”

She looks at him, and he’s still leaning over her, his brown eyes cloudy with some emotion she can barely decipher. 

She drops her hands and watches him. Watches him watching her. “Ben.”

His Adam’s apple bobs in the thick column of his throat, and it strikes her that he is nervous. His eyes are one shade darker, and from this distance she can count the moles on his face.

“Can I…”

She meets him halfway, so he doesn’t have to ask, and she doesn’t have to answer. His mouth tastes a bit like smoke and something else. Her lips are stiff until she feels the push of his bottom lip, and suddenly the tip of his tongue traces her own. Her hands lightly grip the front of his shirt to steady herself, and she shudders when he makes a low noise in the back of his throat.

It is the thought that anyone could walk by and see that finally makes her pull away.

It is her first kiss, and she silently and fiercely hopes it won’t be her last.

“It won’t,” Ben answers.

\--

Weeks later, she finds herself bumping into him around the Republic base and vice versa. She knows he cannot go far-his sentence requires him to remain within certain sectors of the base at all times, save for special occasions when she can bend the rules.

At first they are hesitant with touch, but eventually he brushes her elbow in passing. Her knuckles skim the skin of his neck when they spar. He reaches out to wipe the engine grease from the tip of her nose.

Once, and only once, she thinks she catches Poe staring at them in the dining hall. She feels immediately guilty, but she isn’t sure why. She isn’t doing anything _wrong _per se, yet as the days pass it feels as though the secret builds and festers in her chest.

Or perhaps it blooms.

They do not touch lips again for nearly a month. She remembers his promise to her, remembers it well when she feels his presence through the Force, and then he appears beside her in the hallway.

She knows he is not really there. He can’t be. His curfew was two hours ago, so he would be tucked away into his cell halfway across the ship by now. Still, she looks around cautiously, as crewmembers pass by, as if they can sense him as clearly as she.

She faces forward and rests her palms on the metal railing. He steps beside her, close enough that she can feel the heat of him, but far enough that the linings of his uniform do not touch the skin of her bare upper arm. She keeps her face neutral, but her eyes slide to the left as he clears his throat.

“The Force has not connected us in a long time.”

“Yes.”

He places his hands on the railing. “Do you…prefer it that way?”

“Sometimes,” she answers honestly. “It can be jarring. But I’ve gotten used to it.”

She thinks she sees him nod out of the corner of her eye. Her fingers twitch. He notices. 

“Are you completely miserable here?” she blurts out.

Ben seems surprised by the question, and this time their eyes meet.

“No.”

“But how can that…?”

“Rey.”

The outside of his hand brushes hers on the railing. His skin is warm.

“You know why,” he murmurs, and she can feel the violent pulse of his veins, running through his fingers.

He’s apprehensive. He’s waiting.

She doesn’t know how to answer him, without drawing attention to herself in this crowded hallway. To anyone else, she is out here alone.

So she doesn’t speak. She curls her fingers the slightest bit, until they are wrapped around his skin, until she can’t decipher whose pulse she feels running up the length of her arm.

\--

It is nearly two years into his sentence by the time she asks to spend the night with him. She does so rather blatantly one day, in the midst of their sparring, surprising them both. Perhaps she asks because her face is already red, disguising her embarrassment from the request.

Ben’s ears, which she has learned never tell a lie, reveal his own emotions on the matter.

Her saber and his staff hang limply by their sides, forgotten.

“If that is what you’d like,” he says calmly, but there is a slight tremor in his voice.

She nods curtly, and then picks up her staff, and everything resumes.

That night, as she walks down dim hallways, her heart pounds in her ears. She thinks how this could never have worked even last year, when guards were kept posted outside Ben’s cell at all times. As the months had passed, however, it became clear to most that the once feared Supreme Leader, only wanted to be left alone.

Rey pauses outside the door. Her stomach turns, not only out of nerves, but of guilt. She is not a secretive person. She has told her friends, has told Leia, nearly everything, but not quite.

This whole time, he has been her only secret. 

With that thought in mind, a thought that is both a comfort and a burden, she types in the code and enters his room.

He’s lying on his bunk facing away from her, his back a wall of beige. She shuffles through the doorway, and she is sealed inside. She studies his still form, wondering if perhaps she has come here by mistake.

She is about to turn and leave when he asks, “Are you having second thoughts?”

A breath of relief leaves her mouth in a puff. “No,” she responds, and then moves to his bedside.

As her thigh brushes the edge, his body shifts over, and he turns to face her. She carefully lifts the edge of the blanket and moves to lie beside him, her head hitting his pillow. Her eyes begin to adjust to the dark, and she can see the pallor of his skin, the tresses of raven hair.

Before in the hallway, her heart beat out of her chest, but now she is calm, almost eerily so. Her hand finds his under the sheets, and his skin is white hot, even a little clammy.

She hears him inhale sharply.

“Don’t be afraid,” she tells him. Then her eyes drift shut, and she leans.

The kiss is chaste and tense, and they break apart briefly. She opens her eyes, but his are still closed, so she shuts them again quickly.

When they meet again, he presses on her bottom lip, and then she can taste his tongue. She’s thankful for the dark, for she can’t be very good at this, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

To her surprise, her hands are the first to wander. They clutch his uniform, fist in his hair, cup his jaw. His left hand eventually settles onto the curve of her hip, and when he tilts her away, his body moves to eclipse the remaining space. 

Rey’s stomach rolls as she falls onto her back, as his thigh comes between her legs. He murmurs something against her neck that she can’t hear. She thinks about the time the Force connected them years go, when she caught him between dressings.

At the time it had been horrendously uncomfortable, but the thought now makes her want to…

She reaches up and unbuttons his shirt, and then removes one of the shoulders of her tunic. They finally break apart and he watches.

“Is this what…?” he begins.

“I said I wanted to spend the night,” she replies softly, meekly, her eyes on his collar.

There is one horrible moment where she wonders if she has misread things, but then his mind brushes against hers, and the rest spills over her like syrup.

She discovers they are figuring this out together. They are a mix of elbows and pinches and sighs, and warm cheeks from turning impossible shades of red.

When they join, it is uncomfortable, but there is no blood. Rey thinks she has taken far too many tumbles on Jakku for there to be blood.

He is quiet as he moves, except for the occasional question whispered in her ear. _Does it hurt? Does this feel good? Do you like when I touch you like this?_

For the first few moments Rey wonders what the big deal is, if this is what sex is supposed to be. But then his hips shift and his hand comes down between them and-

Oh. It’s becoming clearer now.

It’s easy to get caught in the rhythm, in the pleasured sighs. Soon his body tenses and he cusses softly. Then…it’s over a little sooner than she would have liked. Perhaps he senses this, because he moves down over her body, kissing her torso, slinging her legs over his shoulders. Her back arches slowly off his mattress as his mouth works the spot between her thighs, tensing her muscles, teasing her in a way she didn’t even know was possible.

_“Ben,” _she gasps once, and he makes a noise deep in his throat that finally makes her toes uncurl.

When he lies beside her again, he sweeps her sweaty strands from her forehead. She takes his hand. And they are quiet for a long while.

“I want you to sit with us tomorrow during dining hours,” she tells him finally. “With my friends and me.”

For a moment, she thinks he will refuse, but maybe it’s because he knows she won’t argue if he says no. Maybe it’s because every time they meet eyes, his seem to soften a little bit more these days.

He squeezes her hand back.

“Alright.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just a cute one-shot I’ve always wanted to write! Maybe I’ll start a longer fic down the line, but I missed writing about them, so I wanted to indulge a bit :)


End file.
